I'm a senior editor and the Shanghai bureau chief of Forbes magazine. Now in my 14th year at Forbes, I compile the Forbes China Rich List, Hong Kong Rich List and Taiwan Rich List. I was previously a correspondent for Bloomberg News in Taipei and Shanghai and for the Asian Wall Street Journal in Taipei. I'm a Massachusetts native, fluent Mandarin speaker, and hold degrees from the University of Vermont and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

China Sportswear Maker Peak's Shares Tumble 5.8% After Profit Warning

Shares in Peak Sports Products, one of China’s largest sportswear makers, closed down 5.8% to a six-week low of HIK$1.30 at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today after the company warned on Friday that its profit for the first half would “decrease considerably” from a year earlier.

The company attributed to decline to “industry-wide destocking and a “sluggish economy,” which in turn hurt demand for new products.

Peak’s net profit in the first half of 2012 fell 43% from a year earlier to 239.7 million yuan, or $40 million, on sales that shrank 38% to 1.6 billion yuan. For all of 2012, Peak’s profit dropped 60% to 311 million yuan, on sales that declined 38% to 2.9 billion yuan.

Looking for a sales boost in a tough industry, money-losing Li Ning, another Chinese footwear brand, said last Wednesday it had launched a “Mark Your Own Way: WOW!” meet-and-greet event as part of Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade’s 2013 China Tour. Wade is the company’s “chief brand officer.” Peak’s own “ambassadors” include Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs and Shane Battier of the Miami Heat. The two compete in China with Nike.

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